O barulho impede-me de descansar bem.

The noise prevents me from resting well.

Breakdown of O barulho impede-me de descansar bem.

• descansar: to rest
• bem: well
• me: me
• o barulho: the noise
• impedir de: to stop

Questions & Answers about O barulho impede-me de descansar bem.

What does impede-me mean literally, and how would you translate it into natural English?

Impede-me comes from the verb impedir (to prevent, to stop, to hinder) + the object pronoun me (me).

• impedir in the 3rd person singular present: ele/ela impede = he/she/it prevents / stops / hinders
• me = me

So impede-me = prevents me / stops me / keeps me (from…)

A natural translation of the whole sentence is:

• O barulho impede-me de descansar bem.
  → The noise keeps me from resting well.
  (also possible: The noise stops me from resting properly.)

Why is there a hyphen in impede-me?

In European Portuguese, when an unstressed object pronoun like me, te, se, nos, vos, o, a etc. comes after a conjugated verb, it is attached to the verb with a hyphen. This is called ênclise (enclisis).

So:

• impede (he/she/it prevents) + me (me)
  → impede-me (prevents me)

In European Portuguese, a main clause that starts with the verb normally uses enclisis:

• O barulho impede-me de descansar bem. ✅ (standard in Portugal)

The hyphen is just an orthographic rule: it shows that me is cliticized to the verb and not a separate stressed word.

Could I say O barulho me impede de descansar bem instead? Is it wrong?

Grammatically, the sequence me impede is possible, but the rules differ between European and Brazilian Portuguese.

• European Portuguese (Portugal)

  • Prescriptive (school) grammar prefers impede-me when the verb starts the clause and there is no trigger for pronoun-before-verb.
  • So in careful writing, O barulho impede-me de descansar bem is the recommended form.
  • Many native speakers in Portugal do say O barulho me impede de descansar bem in everyday speech, but teachers and grammars often mark it as “non-standard” in this context.

• Brazilian Portuguese

  • The usual spoken and written form is O barulho me impede de descansar bem (pronoun before the verb).
  • Impede-me is possible but sounds more formal or literary in Brazil, and hyphenation is less visible in informal writing.

So:

• In Portugal, for a test or formal text: prefer impede-me.
• In Brazil, you’ll mostly see and hear me impede.

Why do we need the preposition de before descansar? Why not just impede-me descansar?

The verb impedir normally follows this pattern when it is followed by another verb:

impedir alguém de fazer alguma coisa
to prevent someone from doing something

So we say:

• O barulho impede-me de descansar.
• Eles impediram-nos de sair. – They prevented us from leaving.
• Isto impede-te de aprender. – This prevents you from learning.

If you remove de, it sounds wrong to native speakers in this structure:

• ✗ O barulho impede-me descansar. (ungrammatical)

However, with a noun instead of a verb, you don’t need de:

• O barulho impede o descanso. – The noise prevents (my/our) rest.

So:

• With a verb: impedir alguém de fazer
• With a noun: impedir algo (no extra de)

Why is it descansar (the infinitive) and not something like descansando or a descansar?

In Portuguese, after most prepositions (like de, em, para, por), you use the infinitive form of the verb, not the gerund:

• de descansar – from resting
• para estudar – to / in order to study
• sem falar – without speaking

So after de, the correct form is descansar, not descansando.

The Portuguese gerund (descansando) does not work like English resting after a preposition. You wouldn’t say:

• ✗ impede-me de descansando

A descansar is possible in other structures, but it changes the feel and is not the normal complement of impedir. For example:

• Estou a descansar. – I am resting.

Here, a descansar works with estar to form a progressive aspect, not as the object of impedir.

What exactly does bem modify here, and where can it go in the sentence?

Bem is an adverb meaning well and it modifies the verb descansar. So:

• descansar bem = to rest well / to get good rest

Normal, natural position:

• O barulho impede-me de descansar bem.

Other positions either sound unnatural or change the meaning:

• ✗ O barulho impede-me bem de descansar.
  – This is not idiomatic Portuguese.
• O barulho impede-me de bem descansar.
  – Very unusual, maybe poetic, not normal speech or writing.

You can omit bem:

• O barulho impede-me de descansar. – The noise stops me from resting.

That’s still fully correct; it just doesn’t specify how well you rest.

Why is it O barulho and not just Barulho impede-me de descansar bem? What does the article do?

Portuguese uses definite articles (o, a, os, as) more often than English uses the.

• O barulho = literally the noise
  
  • Can refer to a specific noise already known from context:
    
    • That noise next door keeps me from resting well.
  • Can also refer to noise in general in that environment:
    
    • The noise (around here) keeps me from resting well.

If you say just Barulho impede-me de descansar bem, it sounds odd, like an abstract slogan or title rather than a normal sentence.

You could also have:

• Os barulhos impedem-me de descansar bem. – The noises keep me from resting well.
  
  • This suggests multiple different noises (cars, people, music, etc.).
• O ruído impede-me de descansar bem.
  
  • ruído is often more technical/formal (noise, sound interference).

In everyday speech about neighbors, traffic, etc., o barulho is the most natural choice.

Is impedir a formal verb here? Are there more everyday alternatives?

Impedir is completely normal and common, but it does feel a bit more neutral/formal than some very colloquial options.

Very common everyday alternatives would be:

• O barulho não me deixa descansar bem.
  – The noise doesn’t let me rest well.
• O barulho não me deixa descansar.

Nuance:

• impedir suggests a stronger, more objective obstacle, like to prevent, to block, to make it impossible.
• não me deixa is more colloquial and can sound a bit softer or more informal.

All are natural; choose based on tone and context.

Does descansar mean specifically “to sleep,” or just “to rest”?

Descansar literally means to rest, to relax, to recover one’s energy. It does not necessarily mean to sleep, although sleep is often part of resting.

So:

• descansar = to rest (could be by lying down, relaxing, doing nothing, or sleeping)
• dormir = to sleep

In context, with barulho (noise), listeners may very well interpret it as affecting your sleep, but the verb itself is more general.

If you specifically mean sleeping well, you would say, for example:

• O barulho impede-me de dormir bem. – The noise keeps me from sleeping well.

How does impedir work grammatically? What patterns can it follow?

The main patterns are:

1. impedir alguém de fazer algo

   • O barulho impede-me de descansar bem.
   • Ele impediu-os de entrar. – He stopped them from coming in.

2. impedir que + verbo no conjuntivo (subjunctive)

   • O barulho impede que eu descanse bem.
     – Literally: The noise prevents that I (should) rest well.
   • This is more formal; the de + infinitive version is more common in speech here.

3. impedir algo (direct object as a noun)

   • A parede impede a passagem. – The wall prevents passage.
   • A chuva impediu o jogo. – The rain prevented the match (from happening).

In your sentence, we are using pattern 1: impedir alguém de fazer algo.

Would Brazilians say this sentence differently from speakers in Portugal?

The main differences are pronoun position and style preference:

• In Brazilian Portuguese (BP), the most natural version is:
  
  • O barulho me impede de descansar bem.
    
    • Pronoun me before the verb (proclisis).
• In European Portuguese (EP), the standard written version is:
  
  • O barulho impede-me de descansar bem.
    
    • Pronoun me after the verb with a hyphen (enclisis).

The rest of the sentence (de descansar bem) is perfectly natural in both varieties.

Brazilians also very often use the alternative with não me deixa:

• O barulho não me deixa descansar bem. – widely used and very colloquial/natural.

How is O barulho impede-me de descansar bem pronounced in European Portuguese?

Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation (in IPA):

• O barulho impede-me de descansar bem
  → [u bɐˈʁuʎu ĩˈpɛdɨ mɨ dɨ dɨʃkɐ̃ˈsaɾ bẽj̃]

Key points for a learner:

• O (the) before a consonant is usually pronounced [u], like English oo in boot.
  
  • O barulho → [u bɐˈʁuʎu]
• barulho: stress on ru → [bɐˈʁuʎu]
• impede: stress on pe → [ĩˈpɛdɨ]
• -me: the vowel is very reduced, something like [mɨ], not a clear meh.
• de: also reduced to [dɨ] when unstressed.
• descansar: stress on the last syllable -sar → [dɨʃkɐ̃ˈsaɾ]
• bem: nasal vowel, roughly [bẽj̃], a bit like bang without the final ng.

In fast speech, many of these reduced vowels are very short and the words link together, so you’ll often hear it as one continuous flow.